SAL1 Charleston Dirty Birds

Power Snap Skid

August 23, 2009 - South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Charleston Dirty Birds News Release


Charleston, WV (August 23, 2009) - Calvin Anderson and Tony Sanchez both went deep on Sunday night at Appalachian Power Park and Aaron Pribanic tossed six great innings against the Greenville Drive as the Power snapped their four game losing skid with a 4-1 victory.

Three homeruns were hit in the contest, but pitching dominated the game, as the two teams combined for just ten hits. Pribanic worked his way out of trouble in the top of the first inning, working his way out of a jam with men on first and second and one out. The Drive got their first and only run of the game on Ryan Lavarnway's 17th homerun of the season in the top of the fourth inning.

Greenville right hander Caleb Clay retired the first nine batters he faced, but Starling Marte snapped that streak with a lead off double in the bottom of the fourth inning. Marte moved to third on Robbie Grossman's bunt base hit and they both came home after Tony Sanchez ripped Clay's 0-1 pitch over the wall in center field for his sixth homerun of the season. Two innings later, Calvin Anderson sent Mike Lee's first pitch sailing over the wall in left for his 12th homer of the season. The Drive had a chance in the top of the ninth inning with the bases loaded and two outs when Oscar Tejada hit a fly ball deep to right field but Marte hauled it in on the warning track to end the game.

Pribanic (2-1) allowed just a run on three hits with four strikeouts over six strong innings and retired the last nine batters he faced to secure the victory. Casey Erickson (4) stepped in with two on and nobody out in the ninth inning, and kept the Drive off the board in the final frame to record the save. Clay (4-6) allowed three runs on three hits and struck out five over five innings in a losing effort.

West Virginia improved to 57-65 overall, and 30-22 in the second half after the victory, while the Drive fell to 65-57 overall and 27-28 in the second half after the loss. Calvin Anderson's homerun extended his hitting streak to six games. Starling Marte has now reached safely in ten straight games and Danny Bomback extended his on base streak to eight games. The first four batters in the order recorded all four of West Virginia's hits.

West Virginia will finish the four game series with the Greenville Drive at Appalachian Power Park on Monday night. The Power will start right hander Quinton Miller (2-3, 5.49) and the Greenville Drive will counter with right hander Stolmy Pimentel (9-6, 3.15). The first pitch will be delivered at 7:05 PM.

Check out the Charleston Dirty Birds Statistics



South Atlantic League Stories from August 23, 2009


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